On Sunday, June 7th Lance O’Donnell from o2 Architects in Palm Springs was guest presenter at a very special all-parish meeting. Lance provided parishioners with a first-look at the much anticipated finalized concept design for the Narthex Expansion Project.
This milestone meeting marked the culmination of literally years of praying and planning. Fixing up the “temporary” back wall of the church was one of the items listed in St. Michael’s 2012 SHINE Capital Campaign. Three years later, that vision is about to become a reality!
For the past year and a half Lance has worked with St. Michael’s Membership and Vestry to fine-tune a functional and affordable design for the new narthex. The design is a beautiful compliment and homage to Albert Frey, the architect of St. Michael’s church and one of the founding fathers of the architectural school of Desert Modernism. It is also versatile in it’s function. The combination of pocketed sliding glass doors, and a movable screen allow for a variety of configurations to accommodate security, airflow, light mitigation, and open-air access and egress.
Phase II of the Narthex Expansion is currently underway. Plans are being submitted to the City of Carlsbad for entitlement ((planning and zoning) approval, and Construction Documents are being created. Construction will begin at the earliest this fall. Thanks be to God!
Written by Fr. Doran Stambaugh, Rector.
